Venom #2 review

This series is strange. In a good way, though. The well-known symbiote found a new host in Lee, an ex Army Ranger. The strange thing? Lee’s in control of the symbiote, not the other way round. And surprisingly, Lee is the one advocating and encouraging violence, not the symbiote.

The dynamic is a completely reversal of that we’ve seen with Flash, Eddie, and even Peter. Lee’s using the suit to carry out the work he couldn’t do without him, including climbing up the ranks in Black Cat’s villainous organisation. It’s a unique and interesting turn of events, and we’re definitely witnessing a version of Venom we’ve not seen before.

The artwork feels rigid and too sketchy when we’re focusing on Lee, but it looks incredible when we’re looking at Venom. It matches the dark and rough tone of the story, but it just doesn’t help the story to progress too well. The storyline is cool so far, but there’s no enough character work and development for us to be invested in Lee. At the moment we’re happy to see him test out his newly-found powers, but this honeymoon effect can only last for so long.

Overall, we’re enjoying this new twist on Venom, but there’s only so long this kind of storytelling can work before we’re craving something more. Hopefully we get a character-driven third issue that really gets us into the series.

7.5Good

Lee is in control of his symbiotic companion in the second issue of Marvel's Venom.